Sally Gross interviewed on Music and Mental Health for NYT

Sally Gross has been interviewed by the New York Times for an article on the setting up of the Music Minds Matter helpline by the nonprofit Help Musicians U.K. The helpline aims to provide a caring ear to the large proportion of people in the music industry with mental health problems. Callers can connect with therapists and can receive advice on issues like debt and Britian’s welfare services. Help Musicians U.K. is investing nearly 1 million pounds, or around $1.4 million, in the help line.

“The help line is great, but it is not the total solution in any shape or form,” said Sally Gross of the University of Westminster, who conducted the survey for Help Musicians. “Mental health is very much a hot topic, and everyone’s saying they’re doing something about it. I don’t know what that is though.”

It is not just the music industry that needs to act, she added. Mental health services require increased government funding, she said, and there is a need for better education on the realities of life as a musician.